Earthquake in Turkey Destroys Surp Sarkis Church’s Archways

2020-01-29

The recent 6.7 magnitude earthquake that hit Elazığ, a city located in Turkey’s Kharpert region, has caused the archways of Diyarbakir’s Surp Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church to collapse, according to a Facebook post by Dr. Khatchig Mouradian.

Although the church is located approximately 74 miles away from the earthquake’s epicenter, Surp Sarkis’ archways were destroyed as a result of the strong magnitude of the quake.

Following the earthquake, Dr. Mouradian revealed the considerable damage to the church through a Facebook post. “The 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Elazığ (Kharpert region) that caused death and destruction did not spare Armenian cultural heritage,” wrote Dr. Mouradian. “The images below document this most recent damage to the church that has been vandalized and excavated for ‘Armenian gold’ for decades. A friend who prefers to remain anonymous took the photographs the day after the earthquake.”